Hidden Dragon in the Abyss

When Naruto was young, he could take in the entire Hokage Rock just by pushing open his window.

When Hyuga Qinglan pushed open his window, however, all that met his eyes were the blue tiles and white walls of the Main Branch estate.

As for the Hokage Rock, he could barely make out a corner of its silhouette.

Hyuga Qinglan leaned against the window, tying his waist-length hair into a neat ponytail and letting the morning dew brush against his face.

"..."

Once he felt slightly more awake, he put on the plain clothes distributed to the clan members and walked out of the secluded courtyard with an expressionless face.

As someone who had lived two lives.

To be precise, three lives.

Hyuga Qinglan knew deep down that only by enduring could he escape his current predicament.

He could not give up on himself just because he held the status of a Branch Family member in this life.

In his previous transmigration, he had personally witnessed and participated in the earth-shattering war between the Otsutsuki Main Branch and the Branch Family on the moon.

Yet, in the end, he had fallen due to a divine move made by the Branch Family.

In this life, earth-shattering battles were occurring one after another.

The Battle of Kannabi Bridge had already concluded, and the Battle of Kikyo Pass was set to follow closely behind.

Taking advantage of the misty sky, Hyuga Qinglan bit into a piece of buckwheat bread, fastened his forehead protector, and headed toward the clan gates.

His situation in this life was not exactly ideal.

His parents were both dead, he had been branded with the Caged Bird curse seal at a young age, and after becoming a ninja, he had to drag himself out of bed early every day to stand guard for the Main Branch.

Compared to his previous life, this existence was practically that of a slave.

Fortunately, the knowledge he had accumulated on the moon had not been lost, and the fundamentals of the Eight Trigrams Palm were etched into his very bones.

Relying on this foundation, even as a Branch Family member, he was able to skillfully execute the Eight Trigrams Thirty-Two Palms by the age of eight.

However, the curse seal on his forehead remained an obstacle hindering his progress.

That said, it did not mean there was no way out.

Hyuga Qinglan raised his eyes, gazing at the moon in the sky, which was being swallowed inch by inch by the morning light.

As long as he could find the remains of the Otsutsuki from his previous life...

Then he would be like a fish entering the sea or a bird soaring into the blue sky, no longer bound by the cage.

Hyuga Qinglan swallowed the buckwheat bread in a few bites, and while passing through the training grounds, he occasionally encountered other Branch Family ninjas who were also up early for duty.

Looking around, their faces all wore the same calm, numb expression.

Not long after arriving at the clan gates, he saw the other Branch Family guards who were on early duty walking slowly toward him from not far away.

"Qinglan, so early today?"

"Yeah, I thought you had been called away to accompany the young lady of the Main Branch for training again."

"I really envy you."

When the other Branch Family members saw Hyuga Qinglan standing at the gate, their usually stern expressions softened slightly.

"Brother Gakuto, Brother Itsudan, Brother Hayato."

Hyuga Qinglan nodded to each of them in return, then quickly withdrew his gaze and went to the registration desk to fill in his information.

It was not that Hyuga Qinglan actually had a particularly close relationship with them.

Beyond a slight connection of blood, they were no different from any other villagers in Konoha.

The polite greetings were merely due to the strict rules of the Hyuga Clan.

Regardless of whether one was Main Branch or Branch Family, there were set regulations for every word and action.

But that was not the most important thing.

The most important things were tardiness, improper conduct, and offending the Main Branch.

The punishment for minor offenses was the withholding of training resources, while major ones resulted in the Caged Bird.

A minor case of tardiness or improper conduct would not trigger the Caged Bird, though.

The key issue was the training resources.

Ever since he opened his eyes again and adapted to his identity as a Branch Family member, Hyuga Qinglan had understood his situation clearly.

Bound by the Caged Bird, the energy and wealth required for him to cultivate were astronomical.

Even as a member of the Hyuga, who boasted of being the number one clan in Konoha, the resources allocated to him as a Branch Family member were a mere drop in the bucket compared to the Main Branch.

The two Kekkei Genkai inherited from Otsutsuki Kaguya.

The Byakugan and the Sharingan were both like this.

To become stronger, one must constantly temper their ocular power.

Improving ocular power requires various forms of training, and the energy and money required for such training are no small sums.

Tragically, as descendants of Hamura, the Hyuga Clan does not possess the abundant cultivation methods of the descendants of Hagoromo—namely, the Senju and Uchiha.

As a member of the Hyuga Branch Family, the only way to break free from this predicament is to explore and fumble forward bit by bit on one's own.

"Hyuga Qinglan."

A crisp, pleasant voice came from behind. Hyuga Qinglan turned his head to look at the person who had arrived.

It was the young lady of the Hyuga Main Branch.

Hyuga Yumi.

She was also the person he was assigned to protect.

"Miss Yumi." Hyuga Qinglan bowed slightly, offering a respectful salute.

"No need for such formalities."

Hyuga Yumi was dressed in combat attire; though the baby fat had not yet faded from her cheeks, her eyes flashed with a sharpness that belied her age.

"Today I want to practice the Eight Trigrams: Thirty-Two Palms. You will accompany me for training."

She turned her head, signaling another Branch Family member to take Hyuga Qinglan's post, and then gestured for Hyuga Qinglan to follow her.

Hyuga Qinglan sighed silently, but in the end, he followed in her footsteps.

To be honest, he really did not want to play house with this young lady before him.

Despite being a member of the Main Branch, she couldn't even execute sixty-four palms of the Eight Trigrams Palm; even thirty-two palms were a struggle for her.

However, hindered by the Caged Bird seal, he had no choice but to submit for the time being.

Only at this moment did Hyuga Qinglan truly understand the state of mind Neji must have felt when acting as a sparring partner for Hinata.

However, being a sparring partner was not entirely without benefits.

The Eight Trigrams Palm taught to the Main Branch ultimately had subtle differences from what the Branch Family learned.

Perhaps due to the training methods of the Otsutsuki Clan he had received on the moon in his previous life, Hyuga Qinglan could always discern the mysteries within at a single glance.

"Bang! Bang!"

The sounds of palm strikes echoed continuously across the training ground as Hyuga Yumi practiced the Eight Trigrams Palm with focused intensity.

Hyuga Qinglan remained calm, occasionally offering pointers on where to exert force and where to retract momentum.

"Ah!"

Hyuga Yumi stumbled after being struck, letting out a soft cry. Just as she was about to fall, Hyuga Qinglan caught her.

"Miss Yumi, let's stop here for today."

"Your Eight Trigrams Palm has improved a little compared to yesterday."

After steadying Hyuga Yumi, Hyuga Qinglan took a small step back, speaking without a change in his expression or a faster heartbeat.

"Hiss... really?"

Hyuga Yumi drew a sharp breath, rubbing her abdomen where she had been struck to suppress the dull pain, basking in Hyuga Qinglan's praise.

"Naturally. Miss Yumi's talent is extraordinary."

"How so?"

"When Miss Yumi practices the Eight Trigrams Palm, it is natural and effortless. You discard the dross and retain the essence; even some of the techniques I use daily have been completely picked up by you."

Hyuga Qinglan looked up, gazing at Hyuga Yumi with a serious expression.

"Among everyone I have ever met, you are a true genius."

A "genius" who could completely forget the Eight Trigrams Palm taught by the Main Branch while incorporating the Branch Family's techniques into her own—she was the only one he had ever seen...

"I see. I didn't expect to be held in such high regard in your heart."

Hyuga Yumi nodded with satisfaction, then reached out and patted Hyuga Qinglan on the head: "You truly are worthy of being my guard."

Hyuga Qinglan did not respond, merely lowering his gaze in silence.

"Since my strength is truly as impressive as you say,"

She paused, the satisfaction in her eyes slowly fading, replaced by a flat, cold sternness.

"Then you shall accompany me to the Mist Battlefield to wash away the shame of our Hyuga Clan."

"?!"